Core i3-8121U vs Core 2 Quad Q8400

Place in the ranking	2240	1664
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Core i3
Power efficiency	1.29	17.47
Architecture codename	Yorkfield (2007−2009)	Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019)
Release date	19 April 2009 (15 years ago)	15 May 2018 (6 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	4 (Quad-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	2.66 GHz	2.2 GHz
Boost clock speed	0.67 GHz	3.2 GHz
Bus type	no data	OPI
Bus rate	1333 MHz	4 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	22
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	4 MB (shared)	512 KB
L3 cache	0 KB	4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	45 nm	10 nm
Die size	2x 82 mm²	123 mm²
Maximum core temperature	no data	105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	71 °C	72 °C
Number of transistors	456 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	0.85V-1.3625V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	FCLGA775,LGA775	Intel BGA1440
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI	-	+
AVX	-	+
vPro	no data	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
QuickAssist	no data	-
Speed Shift	no data	+
My WiFi	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Smart Response	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	-	-
FSB parity	-	no data
Status	Discontinued	Launched
HD Audio	no data	+
RST	no data	+

Security technologies

Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
MPX	-	+
SGX	no data	-
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U are enumerated here.

VT-d	no data	+
VT-x	+	+
VT-i	no data	-
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3	DDR4
Maximum memory size	no data	32 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	no data	38.397 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

On certain motherboards (Chipset feature)

Iris Pro Plus

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U.

PCIe version	2.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Core 2 Quad Q8400 1.35

i3-8121U 2.88
+113%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Core 2 Quad Q8400 2066

i3-8121U 4391
+113%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Core 2 Quad Q8400 327

i3-8121U 1163
+256%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Core 2 Quad Q8400 892

i3-8121U 2366
+165%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.35	2.88
Recency	19 April 2009	15 May 2018
Physical cores	4	2
Chip lithography	45 nm	10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	15 Watt

Core 2 Quad Q8400 has 100% more physical cores.

i3-8121U, on the other hand, has a 113.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 350% more advanced lithography process, and 533.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-8121U is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Quad Q8400 in performance tests.

Note that Core 2 Quad Q8400 is a desktop processor while Core i3-8121U is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Quad Q8400 and Core i3-8121U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.